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Monday, July 9, 2012

Ice Cream Cone Macarons

How's everyones week been? I managed to tire myself out so much that I caught a cold by the end of the week, so my weekend was mostly spent sleeping with a little bit of baking mixed in. I always want to bake when I'm feeling under the weather, I guess it's a comfort thing. It's been a while since I baked up some macarons, and this weekend I decided to make Ice Cream Cone-Shaped Macarons filled with Vanilla Ice Cream & Waffle Cone Icing. I think we've firmly established the fact that I am shamelessly willing to make macarons inanywackyshapeI feellike. I was inspired after seeing a recipe for an icing that actually used melted ice cream in it from Cookies & Cups. I thought it would be the perfect filling for a cute macaron shaped into an ice cream covered with rainbow sprinkles. Pretty freakin' cute.

Shaping the macarons shells into ice cream cones was pretty tricky. It is not an easy shape to get right because it's so irregular, and this makes the shell surface more prone to cracking. About half my batch of shells cracked in various places (sad face), mostly because I forgot that weirdly-shaped macarons need a LOT more drying time before they go into the oven. And the ones that didn't crack were still a little lumpy and funny looking, far from perfect but still cute! Sprinkles always help. I even found these nifty mini rainbow chocolate chips in my cupboard (my cupboard full of sprinkles is getting pretty huge), and used the red ones as the 'cherry' on top of each ice cream cone.

As mentioned in the original ice cream frosting recipe, the melted ice cream doesn't make a noticeable difference to the flavour of the icing, but it's just fun to have it in there. I used a strong flavoured French vanilla ice cream so the vanilla came through quite well. You could use any flavour you like really. I bet mint chocolate chip flavour with green shells rather than pink shells would be fantastic. I also decided to stir in some tiny pieces of crushed up waffle cone into the icing, so give it the whole flavour of an ice cream cone, not just the ice cream. I think it adds an interesting flavour and texture to the filling.

I probably wouldn't recommend this recipe for beginner macaron bakers, getting the triangle shapes right for the cone portion of the macaron shell is a pain in the butt. But if you're keen to do someone along the same lines, an easier alternative is to bake regular round macarons covered in sprinkles to look like the 'scoops' of ice cream, skewer 2 or 3 of them on a lollipop stick and place it in a mini ice cream cone. It would still look super cute and work well with the icing recipe.

Between all the sleeping and baking I did this weekend, I finally started to plan our honeymoon in Europe! We'll be there for about 3 weeks in Autumn, and we're planning to visit London, Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam. I. Cannot. Wait. So feel free to drop me an email or a comment with any suggestions you might like the share for must-sees, must-dos or must-eats! I would appreciate any help :)

1/4 cup completely melted ice cream (any flavour you like, I used French vanilla and left the right amount to melt in the fridge overnight)

1 medium waffle cone, crushed into small pieces

Prepare the macarons first; line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place icing sugar in food processor and pulse for a minute to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse for about 30 seconds to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites and egg white powder in a medium mixing bowl until the egg white powder dissolves and it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks.

Add meringue to your dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white (you really want to beat all the large bubbles out of the mixture, be rough!), then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated and it starts to become shiny again. As it just starts to mix together, place about a third of the mixture in a separate bowl. This smaller amount will be used to pipe the 'cones'. Add 1/2 tsp of sifted cocoa powder to this and then mix to the correct consistency. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of mixture spread over the surface of the rest of the mixture should disappear after about 30 seconds. Place mixture in a piping bag with a narrow tip, about 3mm wide. Add pink food colouring to the remaining 2/3rd of mixture and mix to the same consistency. Place mixture in a separate piping bag with a 1cm round piping tip.

Using the cocoa powder tinted mixture, pipe tall, skinny 'V' shapes to create the triangle shapes for the 'cones' on the prepared sheets. I piped them about 3cm long and 1 cm wide at the widest part. If you want to neaten up the edges of the shapes, use the blunt tip of a wooden skewer dipped in a small amount of hot water to fix up the edges. Pipe 2cm circles of pink mixture for the 'scoop' part of the ice cream cone macarons. Tap baking sheets carefully and firmly on the benchtop a couple times to remove any large bubbles. Decorate with rainbow sprinkles. Leave to dry for AT LEAST an hour, so that when you press the surface of one gently it does not break. This will help prevent any cracking and help the feet to form on the macs. These macarons seem to need a longer drying time than regular round ones as they are prone to cracking. Preheat your oven to 140-150°C (285-300°F), depending on your oven. Place on top of an overturned roasting tray or another baking sheet if your sheets are not professional grade, for better heat distribution. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Carefully test if the base of the shell is ready by gently lifting one and if it's still soft and sticking to the baking paper, then it needs to bake for a few minutes longer. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes, then gently remove from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the icing; remove the butter from the fridge about 30 mins before starting. Place butter in a large mixing bowl and beat on high with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and gradually add icing sugar. Add melted ice cream and increase speed to high. Beat until smooth and combined. Fold crushed waffle cone pieces into the mixture, then place in a piping bag. Pipe and sandwich macarons with the icing. Place in an airtight container in the fridge overnight. Remove from the fridge and allow to come back to room temperature before serving. Can be stored in the fridge for several days.

91 comments:

Wow, these are probably the *cutest* macarons I have ever seen! And probably my favorites of all the ones you have made, and that is a hard choice. I bet they tasted amazing as well. Thanks so much for sharing another creative and beautiful recipe :)

I am in love - these are fabulous!! Mammoth effort! When in Barcelona make sure to check out all of Gaudi's buildings, Sagrada Familia is cool but you can also go through his residential apartment buildings in the downtown - have a great trip!

The photos are incredible -- my favorite is the sprinkles in the ice cream scoop. Find an Eric Kayser bakery in Paris (there are several -- I went to the one on the Rue de Bac in the 7th). I bought my bread there for picnic lunches and ate chocolate chaud and a croissant for breakfast there most mornings.

Hey Steph, these cuties look tres chic! Ah if only i had a functioning oven :/Anyway I was looking through Lonely Planet France one day and typed down a few places they recommended on my phone:> Pink Flamingo in Canal St-Martin (http://pinkflamingopizza.com/site.html)> Apparently an absolute must, the very popular ice-creamery 'Berthillon' in Ile St-Louis, Paris.3) And for creperies, http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2006/03/the-best-crpes/Hope this helps and have fun!

Your photos are absolutely gorgeous! I'm completely in love with all of the pastel colors, the backdrop, and the entire composition. The idea of making these does seem a bit intimidating; you must be a macaron pro! And by the way, I'm going to Paris this August, and like you, I've been looking for places to go. You have no idea how many patisseries/boulangeries/etc. I have listed. David Lebovitz is a great source, of course!

Hi Steph, so excited you get to visit my hometown london very soon! :)

Meatliquor near oxford street is amazing for burgers and has rave reviews. Cay Tre soho for fantastic vietnamese, Koya for authentic fresh udon, and Porters covent garden has a good range of pie & mash. And if you're heading into china town, four seasons is great for roast duck & roast pork! If you're in covent garden and fancy beer & mussles, head to Belgos.

If you like accessorize shopping "Accesorize" is great, and Primark is cheap and fashionable!

If you need any more help with what to plan etc in London, just email me at yellowhellokitty@hotmail.com. Hope you have a fab honeymoon!

You are amazing!!! I have a request; can you please make something with salted caramel? Also, a question, have you ever used edible glitter? Also, another question - when will you go on Masterchef?!! =)

Steph, you never ran out of clever ideas! This is just so pretty and really creative. Myfudo here...We are moving to a new domain www.yumgoggle.com This has been a project we have been working on for almost a year now. We just launched our new gallery submission site, and we are just thrilled.Your unique and interesting features have always impressed us. Now that we are getting a new look...We’d be happy to have your work as part of our growing collection to continue to have a larger reach and further inspire all fellow food lovers out there! Please sign up and check us out (it's free) www.yumgoggle.com/gallery.

Eeeee I love them! I've been waiting to get on a computer since you tweeted me there'd be photos of these darling things, and now I'm seeing them and they're adorable! I could just sit there eating them all day haha you're such a clever cookie!! I'm glad to see you're on blogspot too, that means I can follow you here too :)

These are so cute, bet they taste great too! Quick question, with the powdered colouring how much do you use for this sized batch? I've made two batches now and as I saw people saying the colours don't come through in macarons very well I've accidentally over-coloured my macs both times, so they've ended up looking almost flurescent! I like the subtle colour in these. Thanks!

Hi Amelia, I don't use much at all since powdered colouring tends to be quite strong. I couldn't tell you an exact amount, I add it gradually as I'm mixing everything together until I'm happy with the brightness, I usually assume it's going to fade a little bit after baking. I hope that helps!

Also, I just wanted to say congratulations on your marriage! I just came back from Europe and have a list of places you should try that were amazing!

Paris:1. Septime - super popular so make reservations EARLY as they fill up super fast2. O Chateau - this is a wine bar that has amazing pairing menus. A must try is the cheese plate, one of the cheeses is a Brie cheese with a truffle mixture in the middle - it's heavenly. I believe on Saturday nights they have an "international" discount so if you come from another country, you get 10-20% off your bill!3. La Cafeotheque - super cute and tasty coffee/cafe latte/cappuccino/etc. options, also try the quiche and arugula salad4. Don't be afraid to try all the street foods! I loved walking the streets of Paris and chomping on a baguette stuffed with the freshest mozzarella, tomatoes, and olives in town.

YOU are freaking amazing! I stumbled across your blog today when Clinique featured your fruit tingle cake on facebook. I normally don't follow blogs but yours will be an exception. I bow down to you my dear!

First of all, I want to say that I love your blog. The photos are always beautiful and you're clearly an insanely talented baker.Second, I hope you haven't already left for your honeymoon (congratulations, by the way!) because I just spent the summer studying abroad and visited each of the cities you're going to.For London: Go to Portobello Market. It's touristy, but full of charming trinkets and it's home to a Gelato Mio. Most delicious gelato ever. For Paris: Eat the street food. All of it. You can't go wrong with freshly baked French bread. And since it's your honeymoon, be sure to put a lock with your names on it on the Pont de l'Archevêché on the Seine. Cheesy, but sweet nonetheless. In Barcelona: Go to Crusto if you can. it's a cute little coffee shop and has delicious pastries. And drink Cava all the time. Amsterdam sells cones of fresh french fries. Try them with mayo. Delicious. Have fun!

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